Romano: Lawmakers need to tighten loopholes for charter schools
No more excuses. No more self-serving propaganda.
If Florida Department of Education officials and lawmakers fail to slow expansion and tighten loopholes in charter school regulations, they should all be dismissed as hypocrites or fools.
That's not hyperbole, and it's not intended to shock. The simple truth is the current standards and policies have been exposed as a joke, and can no longer be ignored.
Case in point:
A charter high school in Orlando was recently closed due to poor performance. The principal, who was drawing a salary of $305,000, was handed a parting gift of more than $519,000 in taxpayer money, according to an Orlando Sentinel report.
The principal's overall pay in the last year was more than double the school's entire education budget.
Under charter school laws, this was perfectly legal.
Case in point:
A struggling charter in Manatee County recently ran a newspaper ad offering a free